Most people today are aware of the many of the dangerous effects of cigarette smoking. But the harm that cigarette smoking does to your body does not stop with lung cancer and bronchitis. The sad, real truth is that most every part of your body, the members of your family and many other aspects of your life are hit hard by cigarette smoking.

Sure, everyone knows about lung cancer and bronchitis. But did you know that cigarette smoking is the number one contributor to heart attacks as well?

Did you also know that many other types of cancers are thought to be caused by smoking, including liver cancer, bladder cancer, cancer of the larynx, cancer of the throat, cancer of the mouth and tongue, esophageal cancer, cancer of the large intestine, and even cancer of the bloodstream? If that doesn't yet scare you, read on.

Cigarettes are no longer just rolled tobacco, as many people still innocently think. The tobacco industry purposely adds ingredients in order to increase tobacco's addictiveness. There are approximately 4000 (yes, 4000!) chemicals in cigarette smoke, many of them toxic. The ingredients in cigarettes affect everything from the internal functioning of organs to the efficiency of the body's immune system. The effects of cigarette smoking are destructive and widespread, covering your entire body from head to toe.

Setting aside your own personal health think about the strain cigarette smoking puts on your pocketbook? Someone who smokes a pack a day will wind up spending over $700 every year on cigarettes. That's an entire month's rent, two months worth of groceries, three or four car payments, or the cost of a very nice flat-screen television. Not to mention how that money could grow in a nice savings account!

The effects of cigarette smoking also reach out to those around you as well. Those who are exposed to second-hand smoke inhale about 15% the amount of nicotine as those who are active smokers, so for every ten cigarettes you have around your children, they may as well have smoked one and a half cigarettes themselves. Even pets have been found to suffer from increased health problems due to their owners smoking! Many have respiratory diseases and cancers: a gift from there owners and their cigarettes.

So if you smoke, it's time to quit. It's time to think about how bad this habit really is, how it really touches your life and the lives of those around you. There are absolutely no health benefits, there is no upside, there is nothing positive about the effects of cigarette smoking.